crime seriousness
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2022 ◽  
pp. 001112872110617
Author(s):  
Shi Yan ◽  
Jason W. Walker

Legal and qualitative studies have highlighted that courtroom actors consider multiple aspects of criminal records. However, most quantitative studies on sentencing only included the number of prior convictions or arrests, with little attention to the seriousness trends of those priors. Taking stock from studies on criminal careers, we used group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to identify patterns of escalation and de-escalation among a defendant sample in New York State ( n = 56,017), and then examined the role of trajectory groups in four decision points: dismissal, charge reduction, incarceration, and incarceration length. We found that escalation, de-escalation, and a higher stable level of crime seriousness were associated with less favorable outcomes at multiple decision points.


Author(s):  
James Manwaring

AbstractMany philosophers have raised difficulties for any attempt to proportion punishment severity to crime seriousness. One reason for this may be that offering a full theory of proportionality is simply too ambitious. I suggest a more modest project: setting a lower bound on proportionate punishment. That is, I suggest a metric to measure when punishment is not disproportionately severe. I claim that punishment is not disproportionately severe if it imposes costs on a criminal wrongdoer which are no greater than the costs which they intentionally caused to others. I flesh out the implications of this Lower bound by discussing how to measure the costs of crime. Methodologically, I claim that different costs should be compared by considering preferences. Substantively, I claim that many proportionality judgements undercount the costs of crime by focusing only on the marginal and not the average cost. I suggest that we may hold defendants causally responsible for their contribution to the costs of that type of crime.


Children ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 283
Author(s):  
Pedro Pechorro ◽  
Rebecca Revilla ◽  
Victor H. Palma ◽  
Cristina Nunes ◽  
Cátia Martins ◽  
...  

The UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale is one of the most used and easily administered self-report measures of impulsive traits. The main objective of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the shorter SUPPS-P scale among a school sample of 470 youth (Mage = 15.89 years, SD = 1.00) from Portugal, subdivided into males (n = 257, Mage = 15.97 years, SD = 0.98) and females (n = 213, Mage = 15.79 years, SD = 1.03). Confirmatory factor analysis results revealed that the latent five-factor structure (i.e., Negative urgency, Lack of perseverance, Lack of premeditation, Sensation seeking, and Positive urgency) obtained adequate fit and strong measurement invariance demonstrated across sex. The SUPPS-P scale also demonstrated satisfactory psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, discriminant and convergent (e.g., with measures of youth delinquency, aggression) validities, and criterion-related validity (e.g., with crime seriousness). Findings support the use of the SUPPS-P scale in youth. Given the importance of adolescence as a critical period characterized by increases in impulsive behaviors, having a short, valid, reliable, and easily administered assessment of impulsive tendencies is important and clinically impactful.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. e0246081
Author(s):  
Mei-Ling Shao ◽  
Chris Newman ◽  
Christina D. Buesching ◽  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Zhao-Min Zhou

Wildlife crime presents a growing threat to the integrity of ecological communities. While campaigns have raised consumer awareness, little is known about the socio-demographic profile of wildlife offenders, or how to intervene. Using data from China Judgements Online (2014–2018), we documented 4,735 cases, involving 7,244 offenders who smuggled, hunted, transported, sold and/or purchased protected species in contravention of China’s Criminal Law. Offenders were predominantly men (93.0% of 7,143 offenders), aged 30–44 (43.9% of 4,699), agricultural workers (48.4% of 3,960), with less schooling (78.6% of 4,699 < senior secondary school). Socio-economic profiles related to crime seriousness, the type of illegal activity, motivation and taxon involved. These generalizations reveal scope to tailor specific intervention and mitigation approaches to offender profiles, through public information campaigns, proactive incentives opposed by punitive disincentives, and provision of alternative incomes.


Author(s):  
Pedro Pechorro ◽  
Matt DeLisi ◽  
Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves ◽  
João Pedro Oliveira

Trauma exposure and low self-control are robustly associated with youth antisocial/criminal problems, but the interrelation of these constructs is unclear when taking into account both traumatic events and reactions. The objective of the present study is to examine self-control mediation effects related to trauma and juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, crime seriousness, and aggression outcomes. The sample consisted of N = 388 male youth from Portugal (age, M = 16.01 years, SD = 1.03, age range = 13–18 years). Path analysis procedures revealed that self-control partially mediates the relation between trauma events and the examined outcomes and fully mediates the relation between trauma reactions and the examined outcomes. Research on youth trauma should examine both trauma events and trauma reactions because they have differential effects on low self-control and antisocial/criminal outcomes.


2020 ◽  
pp. 154120402098421
Author(s):  
Matt DeLisi ◽  
Pedro Pechorro ◽  
Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves ◽  
João Maroco

Psychopathy and trauma exposure are robustly associated with youth conduct problems, but the interrelation of these constructs is unclear. The objective of the present study is to examine psychopathy mediation effects related to trauma events and trauma reactions and juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, crime seriousness, and proactive overt aggression outcomes. The sample consisted of N =388 ( M = 16.01 years, SD = 1.03 years, age range = 13–18 years) male youths from Portugal. Path analysis procedures revealed that psychopathy partially mediates the relation between trauma events and the juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, crime seriousness outcomes, and fully mediates the relation between trauma events and the proactive overt aggression outcome. Trauma reactions have no direct significant effect on psychopathy, and psychopathy does not mediate the relation between trauma reactions and the examined outcomes. Research on trauma and adverse childhood experiences should encompass both events and reactions to those events as they have differential associations with psychopathy and externalizing outcomes. Trauma-informed service, supervision, and treatment is essential for understanding antisocial development and psychological maladjustment among youth.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jantje Wilhelmina Van de Weetering

Public perceptions of crime seriousness and attitudes towards the punishment of crime stem from the social norms and values that shape society and are informed by ways of knowing about crime. Located within a social constructionist paradigm, the purpose of this study was to examine the influence of post-secondary education, crime type and crime representation on perceptions of crime severity and punitive attitudes for different crime types. A sample of 971 students from the University of Winnipeg completed an online questionnaire measuring perceptions of crime severity for one-line crime descriptions as well as crime scenarios based on actual court data. Results show that both wrongfulness and harmfulness are strong predictors of perceived seriousness. As predicted, violent crimes ranked highest on measures of seriousness, wrongfulness, and harmfulness, and received the most severe sentencing recommendations. While the level of education completed had no significant difference on perceptions of crime severity, differences between fields of study showed significance. Comparisons between responses to the one-line crime descriptions and the crime scenarios revealed significantly stronger severity ratings for the scenarios than for the one-line descriptions although the ranking of crimes remained similar. Findings suggest that universal notions of wrongfulness and harmfulness exist that influence perceptions of seriousness and are resistant to change. Perceptions towards crimes are informed by a socially constructed reality of crime that shapes our knowledge of crime. Understanding the underlying factors that influence perceptions and attitudes towards crime may shed new light on the social approaches to dealing with crime and provides new insights into crime control practices and government crime policy. Finally, results also emphasize the importance of reflecting on the matter of crime representation in academic research.


Author(s):  
Michael Tonry

Proportionality theory’s influence is waning. It is beset by challenges. Some, such as difficulties in scaling crime seriousness and punishment severity, and linking them, are primarily analytical and of interest mostly to theorists. Others, such as trade-offs between proportionality and crime prevention, relate to real-world applications. Proportionality theory does support two injunctions with which most people, citizens, scholars, and professionals alike, would say they agree. First, no one should be punished more severely than he or she deserves. Second, all else being equal, people who commit more serious crimes should be punished more severely than people who commit less serious ones, and vice versa. Converting that principled agreement into real-world policies and practices is not easy. The post-Enlightenment values of fairness, equality, justice, and parsimony that underlie proportionality theory, however, are widely accepted and are likely to remain influential even if punishment paradigms once again shift. Proportionality theory is likely to be eclipsed but not to disappear.


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